BtH Discusses Global Challenges that will Survive COVID-19
The Beyond the Headlines @BUPardeeSchool, or BtH, series at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University returned with a special online edition on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 with a virtual panel discussion on persisting global issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The discussion, presented by the BU Alumni Association, was entitled “Things We Worried About Before COVID: Global Issues That Did Not Go Away.” The live online panel was moderated by Adil Najam, Dean of the Pardee School, and featured Janine Ferretti, Professor of Practice of Global Development Policy at the Pardee School, Shamiran Mako, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Pardee School, Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science at the Pardee School, Joshua Shifrinson, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Pardee School, and Lt. Gen. Jack Weinstein (Ret.), Professor of the Practice of International Security at the Pardee School.
The world had no dearth of crises when the coronavirus suddenly erupted, and the global pandemic has not put these on hold. Panelists discussed global issues that they were monitoring prior to COVID-19 and continue to be top of mind, including the rise of a nuclear North Korea, diminishing trust in democratic governing authority and activities, as well as the growing roll of the U.S. on the international stage. Pardee School professors mentioned how COVID-19 has perpetuated certain global problems – cyber security, misinformation, and increased nationalism – but also offered a glimpse at what lessons and hope can be applied as we move closer to a post-COVID world.
A video recording of this discussion is available here.
Beyond the Headlines is a regular series at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies which seeks to cultivate informed conversations among experts and practitioners on issues that are currently in the news headlines, but to do so with a focus on intellectual analysis and on longer-range trends. Recent Beyond the Headlines discussions have focused on topics including Brexit, International Women’s Day, Russia-US relations, and the crisis in Kashmir.